Day Care Days
by Awesome-HetaliaQueen 37
Summary: Axel is a father. Xion is his daughter. The readhead was left by the love of his life with little to no experience about raising a child. That wouldn't end well, now would it?
1. Prologue

„Waaaaahhh!"

Heavy eyelids opened slowly and revealed sleepy emerald coloured eyes. The owner of the eyes hesitantly sat up in his bed and heaved a pained sigh. While rubbing the crust from his eyes he tried to arrive in the world of the woken and looked around his darkened room bemused. Just when his droopy eyes had finally adjusted to the dark atmosphere the man was blinded by the bright red light of his alarm clock. Squinting his emerald eyes together he tried to read the time on it. With much effort he could eventually make out that it was in fact 2:36 in the morning. Confused of why he had woken up at such a godforsaken hour he rubbed the back of his head and did his best to sort out his thought.

"WAAAAAAAAAH!"

The man was thrown out of his thoughts by a hysteric wail. His head quickly shot up, making his sleepy brain hammer against his skull, and looked at the half opened door. The cries were coming from the room right opposite his one and didn't seem to stop soon. With a blank stare he kept looking right ahead when reality came crushing down in him. These pained cries came from - !

"Xion!" Like a madman he jumped out of his bed, not caring that he knocked over his alarm clock and lamp on his bedside table while doing so, and sprinted in the other room. Switching the light on the man ran over to the cot and sent the one crying a worried look. With as much caution as possible he shoved his hands under the baby's head and back and took her into his arms. "Shh, Shh, everything's alright." the man said in a quiet and soothing voice while slightly rocking the small girl. Soon the wailing calmed down and just some hiccups could be heard now and then. The man sighed, feeling relieve wash over him. After some time the little baby happily began playing with its spit, making bubbles along the way. The adult made a playful grimace as he put the kid down in the cot again.

"Eww Xion, that's disgusting, bleh." the elder one joked and stuck his tongue out. A heartwarming laugh filled the otherwise silent room, plastering a content smile on the man's face. He gave a light laugh and caressed the small one's head. He got a bright laugh in return, which made him smile even wider. "What am I gonna do with you? You'll never ever fall asleep again like this." he whispered while tickling the baby's tummy, earning a series of giggles. His emerald eyes unconsciously drove over to a small old CD player with a few CD's and a picture next to it. The man's hand stopped tickling the kid and his smile dropped instantly when his eyes landed on the picture.

Biting his lower lip he was about to make his way over to the music device when a sound of protest stopped him in his tracks. Xion had grabbed his index finger and grumbled angrily. Snickering lightly he patted her on the head. "It's okay, I'm not going anywhere." As if understanding what he had just said, the kid shut up and let go of him, refusing to put her arms down however. After giving a small and slightly forced smile the adult went over to the CD player. He took the CD from the top of the stack in his hands and looked at the cover. A well drawn picture of a black haired woman was seen with a golden writing that said "Lullaby" adorning the bottom. The adult tensed and he gritted his teeth. Letting a heavy sigh leave his mouth he put the CD in the player and pressed the play button. After the device read the CD for a while a calming melody started to play.

The man walked over to the child and noticed how fast it had gotten drowsy again; even its arms weren't outstretched anymore but rather clutched around the small yellow dog plush. A smile found its way onto the man's face again but was instantly wiped off when the vocals of the song started. A beautiful female voice filled room, her voice sounding tender and oh so loving. The baby had found its way back to the world of sleep and made gentle and joyful sounds. The adult, however, tensed intensely. When he saw the kid sleeping soundly he walked over to the CD player and turned the volume down, so that it could only be heard in the child's room.

The man practically fled out of the room and closed the door behind him. Doing so with his own room's one too, he let himself fall on his bed. He violently pressed the palms of his hands onto his eyes, preventing anything from possibly coming out of them. Biting his lower lip again he tried evening his breath and calming his racing heart. The man winced when he felt a sharp pain and blood tickle his taste buds. "Great," he thought "I bit it open again."

Growling he turned to his side and pitched the bridge of his nose. "Get a grip Axel!" the man, Axel, screamed in his head. "It's already been three months! Don't be a pussy and cry about shit like that! It wasn't anything different than every other time!" Axel scolded himself in his mind.

That's right, what he had had with _her _wasn't different than all the other relationships he had had before. It had been always the same. He would have found someone he liked and eventually gotten together with her. The relationship would have ended after he had had enough of her, whether it had been her personality or the sex. But mostly it had been the sex. Axel had just gotten bored too easily with all the plain chicks he had been with. And _she _hadn't meant anything more to him than the other girls he had hooked up with.

The adult's lips escaped a short pained laugh. "Yeah right, nothing more…" he whispered with quivering lips. Who was he kidding? _She_ had beenso much_ more. She_ had made him feel alive for the first time. Back when he had first met _her_ he had tried to get _her_ into bed, obviously. _She_, however, had shown him the cold shoulder but not with sending him a small smile first. That had gotten him interested. Had he known that _she_ would change so much in his life, he would have avoided _her_ at all cost. _She_ had shown him the bright side of life, _she_ had shown him what a real relationship was like, _she_ had shown him what _LOVE_ was. He had gotten so much happiness from _her_ only for it to be utterly shattered by _her_.

After a long time of waiting they had finally decided to make the big step of love making. That had been Axel's real first time. For the first time ever he had performed the act of love with the one he had actually loved. Everything had seemed so right. But when _she_ had found out that _she_ had been impregnated by their first time, _she _had been furious. _She_ had blamed Axel for everything. _She_ had complained that _she _was too young to raise a child and even threatened the man with abortion.

Axel had been heartbroken. The one that had had caused his life to make a 180 had told him that _she_ would kill their child. The man had begged _her _to think it over but _she_ had made up _her_ mind. _She _didn't want the child. Axel had eventually convinced _her_ not to kill the child but to give birth to it instead. This, however, had made the man live the worst 9 months of his life. _She_ had had a condition. Axel would have to look after _her _the whole 9 months until the birth and fulfil every wish _she_ had had. That wouldn't have been a problem for the man if there hadn't been the fact that now it had been _her_ who had done the 180. _She_ had looked at him with all the hate that a human could possibly feel for someone and _she_ had made him do humiliating things just for the heck of it, and since they had had an agreement he had had to do them.  
>Three months prior to the current day his daughter, Xion, had finally been born. Right after her birth she had been thrust into Axel's arms and her mother had been gone ever since.<p>

A trembling breath left the man's mouth as he wiped the lucky tears that had managed to escape away. Xion's mother had been someone very important in Axel's life, that was for sure, but now she was gone. It was his job now to raise Xion, after all it's what he had wanted. But, of course, life couldn't be fair. It was only ironic how Xion could only fall asleep to her mother's singing when she was high-strung. The first time, Axel had put in _her_ CD by accident but for Xion it had been the perfect sleeping potion. For him, however, it was pure torture every time he heard _that_ voice.

Xion was all Axel had. Everything he loved. She was his joy….

But why did the joy have to bring him so much pain?

**One year later**

Big blue eyes, clear as crystals, stared at the outstretched hands in front of them. The girl who owned the crystal blue eyes glanced at her father who had an encouraging but also kind of mocking grin plastered on his face. He was crouched in front of the dining table, barely a meter away from the girl. "C'mon Xion" he laughed, "I told ya, if you won't talk, you'll walk!" The adult let out another laugh when the little kid frowned and blew away a stray strand of her short raven black hair. The poor girl was gripping the leg of their dining table for dear life, not even being able to stand straight but rather being in a half crouching pose. Her knees were shaking uncontrollably too which wasn't helping the situation at all.

When her father gestured once again for her to come his way, she grumbled disapprovingly. She might have just turned one year old three months ago but Xion was a smart kid. She understood many things her father said, or at least the ones he said to her, but every time she formed the words right in her head her mouth just wouldn't cooperate, so she gave up. Unfortunately, her oh so nice father just couldn't leave her alone. When the adult had noticed that her talking wasn't improving he had just decided that it was time for her to learn how to walk. Xion didn't like this at all. She had needed months to just _stand _on her two legs without falling on her butt, or even worse, on her face and that only had proven to be successful when she was gripping an object as hard as she could. Actually, it was more like her arms did the standing rather than her feet. And for the last week her father wouldn't leave her side and stop nagging her about walking at all.

"Xiooooon, I'm waiting~" the man chirped in a sing sang voice. Okay, the girl was officially annoyed. Gathering all her courage (and the rage that was burning inside of her) the black haired kid made the first step….which was followed by sloppy stumbling movements. But eventually she made it into the warmth of her father's arms, who was beaming with pride.

Axel hugged the girl in his arms and laughed. "There you go, my little girl!" he praised and planted a kiss on her forehead. "It ain't that hard, now is it?" The man laughed again when the girl showed him a disapproving pout. He hugged his child against his chest and stroked her head, his trademark sign of affection for her. But what came next wasn't something he could have seen coming.

"Ba….P…Ba..Ba." came the little voice of his daughter which was a bit muffled by his shirt. Despite of that he was sure that he hadn't misheard her. "Xi….on?" he asked with a trembling voice. The child backed away a bit to look straight at Axel's face and with a big proud smile she answered. "Ye…Yesh, Baba?"

Axel froze. Of all the first words that could have left her mouth, her first word was "Baba". Meaning Papa. Daddy. FATHER. Axel loved being her father and, of course, there wasn't anything in the world that mattered more than Xion to him but now that she had finally called him what he was to her, he realized that even if he gave her all his love, she could never have a normal childhood. Axel was, after all, a man. He could never replace the love and warmth a mother could give, he could never have the conversations a mother would have with her daughter.

The man hugged his daughter tight to his body so that she couldn't see the forming tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry sweet cheeks, but don't call me that, please" It actually broke his heart to say such words to his treasure but he couldn't take the pain when he thought of all the things a _father_ couldn't do for his child, his girl, alone.

Xion squirmed in his crushing grip but seemed to fail to break free. "Babaaa, le- g…ou" she tried her best to speak but again her mouth didn't do what her head was telling it. Unluckily, her attempt just made the adult hug her even closer. "mhhhhm…" she protested and finally managed to slip out of his grip. Axel was a bit taken aback by the quick movements of the child and gasped lightly. Xion clapped her hands, harder than intended, on her father's cheeks on send him a mad pout. But of course her legs had to give out right that moment. Thankfully, the man managed to catch her and set her down in his lap.

The girl slapped her hands on her father's cheeks again, this time earning a grumbling noise from him. "Baba!" she cried, actually being proud of herself since it was the only word she could say without problem all of a sudden. Her cry had caught the man's attention. "Baba, don' cwy! Ev…ely thin' wi…ll be awligh'! (Don't cry! Everything will be alright!)"

Axel's eyes widened at his daughter. She had just seriously used his main sentence that he used to calm her down on him. When he looked at the determined face of the girl which was entirely destroyed by the cute pout her lips had formed he couldn't do anything but to chuckle. He couldn't believe he was just told off by his baby daughter. With a smile he laid his head on Xion's shoulder and sighed. He really had to finally man up.

"Baba?" he heard her say.

"Mhm?"

"Y- You heawyyy!"


	2. Chapter 1

Tiny hands pushed against the wooden door, opening it just enough for the small figure to sneak into the barely lit room. The shining blue eyes of the girl fixated on the unmoving body that lay under the sheets on the bed right opposite her. With fast steps she jumped and landed right on the bigger figure. The body twitched and an annoyed grunt could be heard but nothing more happened. The girl sat up and started shaking the other where she thought his shoulder was. "Papa! Wakey!" The male that was buried under the sheets made a protesting sound and turned to his side what led the small child to fall from the adult's back.

Sitting up again the girl blew some hair from her face and grumbled angrily. She then attempted to wake her father once again but this only resulted in her getting squished under the heavy body of the man. The child struggled to get out from under the large figure but eventually made it out. Now boiling with anger she took a deep breath and screamed. "PAPA! Hurry! We're late!"

This time the man shot up instantly. The small child giggled as she saw the funny looking face of her father. The adult looked at her with big eyes, his eyes filled with shock and confusion. Sensing that her father didn't get what she had just said (or rather shouted), she repeated her last sentence. "Papa! It's late!" If possible the man's eyes went even bigger.

"Shi-"

The girl watched as her father visibly bit down on his tongue to swallow the word that had almost left his mouth. When he threw her a vary look she cocked her head and countered the man's look with a curious one of her own.

The adult then literally jumped from the bed and rushed to his drawers. The girl could hear him mumble something like "Why today of all days?!" and "Gotta hurry, gotta hurry…" while he grabbed some clothes. Her father looked at her while clumsily putting on his clothes but suddenly stopped putting them on midways. The girl noticed how his eyes had shifted to something behind her thus she turned around just to see the alarm clock shining with its bright red colours. The small child jumped when she heard an exasperating sigh come from her father. She turned around and looked at the man with big eyes. He slid down the wall with a tired moan leaving his mouth.

"Xiiiioooooooooon." The man whined and put his head in his hands. "What do you mean 'we're late'? It's 6 am!" The girl frowned and jumped from the bed. She ran over to her father and gripped his wrists, though not being able to clasp around them with her small hands. "Yeah, that's right! If we don't hurry we'll be late!" The man split his fingers to throw her a look through the created slits.  
>With another sigh the man let his arms fall to the floor and he let his head bump against the wall with a thud.<p>

"You do know that Day Care doesn't start in less than an hour right?"

"But Miss Naminé said she's always there earlier!"

"Yeah, but that probably means that she's 5 to 10 minutes earlier."

Xion grumbled and started pondering on her father's arm. "Hurry up anywaaaays!" She whined and kept hitting him. She earned an amused laugh from the adult. "Okay, okay! Ouch! Stop hitting me!"

When her father managed to grab her arms with one hand he suddenly started tickling her with the other. Joyful laughs filled the room making it seem much livelier.

"P-Papa! Hahaha, stoooop!" Xion shouted, her laughs making it hard to speak. She somehow managed to escape her father's iron grip and clasped her hands over her stomach. "That was no fair!" She whined playfully. The man just laughed again and patted her head. "Well, that's the revenge you get." Xion pulled a fake angry face which got a cheeky grin from the man in return. The hand that was patting her head moved down to her cheek and pinched it lightly. The girl protested with moans and whines and tried to make the hand release her now red cheek.

"But seriously sweet cheeks, what's gotten into ya today?" The adult asked when he finally let go of the poor child's cheek. Xion started jumping up and down excitedly, a bright smile forming on her face. "How can't I be? It's my first day in Day Care!" She replied with an even bigger smile. The girl saw her father sigh again, this time, however, it sounded more content than tired.

"Well, I got it. So, how about we both get changed first and then get breakfast? I'll make something nice since with got so much time now." The man smiled at her. Xion's eyes started to sparkle and her lips turned upwards into a delighted smile. She just loved it when her father cooked, he was surprisingly good at it. Without any other word said the girl rushed out of the room but not without hearing the cheerful chuckle of her father.

Axel couldn't help but chuckle when his only daughter got that all sparkly expression and just dashed off like mad. He knew she loved it when he cooked…but maybe he should let it burn a bit. Just a tiny bit of course.

The adult stretched and let out the yawn that he was holding in. When he felt his bones crack and the tension in his back fade, he breathed out satisfied. Axel pulled his pants up and slipped in a simple black t-shirt, this time without any clumsy movements. When leaving his bedroom he glanced in his daughter's room, seeing her roam through her closet. The man laughed and made his way to the kitchen. He couldn't believe that such a young girl would already have trouble picking out clothes. He definitely had to teach her to be more carefree. And maybe a bit lazy too.

But he just couldn't blame her. After having to wait for so long she could finally go to Day Care with her friends. It's not like Axel didn't want to let her go but he just hadn't had the money to. He was really happy that he had a friend like Naminé. She worked at the local Day Care centre which had just been built. Since one of the children was hers and the others were from friends, she could take care of them at her place as long as the constructions were going on. Being the good friend she was she agreed on taking care of Xion too for free since Axel couldn't just take her to work.

Thinking of work Axel growled in a low voice. His old job had been torture. An ass for a boss, assholes for co-workers and just a shitty job in itself. He was so happy that he had had the luck to get a new one. It may just be at a café but he knew that when he showed off his old bartender skills his new boss took a liking to him.

And as luck would have it, his first day at his new workplace was the same day as Xion's first day at Day Care. Speaking of the devil, the little girl ran through the kitchen door, a skip present in her step.

"Oh, the princess finally graced me with her presence!" Axel joked, earning an adorable pout from the girl. Snickering, the adult knelt down in front of their small fridge which was, sadly, poorly filled. He searched through the few ingredients, pondering about what to cook. Axel glanced over his shoulder when he felt Xion trying to peek into the fridge. Almost unnoticeably he pulled up his shoulder a bit, so that the girl wouldn't be able to look inside at all. He had to bite down on his tongue for the second time that day but this time to not laugh out loud. Xion was making cute protesting noises behind his back and he just loved that way too much.

That's something that he had noticed right at the beginning. He got a kick out of annoying his daughter every single time; her faces were just too adorable and too perfect too not start laughing.

Eventually deciding on what to cook Axel took the ingredients out of the fridge and put them on the counter. The man stood up and quickly turned around, startling his daughter and efficiently shielding the ingredients. Xion gave him a curious look and tried looking behind Axel, but the man always blocked her view successfully. The teasing hadn't stopped just yet.

With her lips forming a pout the girl crossed her arms in front of her small body. "Yep, that's what an angry kid looks like." Axel decided and laughed silently. "Papa, what are you gonna make?" The girl finally uttered her question. Axel, being the _nice_ father that he was, wouldn't just make it that easy. "Guess!"

"Papa!" Xion whined, stomping her foot angrily on the ground. The man almost shit his pants at the sudden outburst and put up his hands in defence. "Okay, okay, I get it! You're hungry." He laughed weakly, his daughter still looking pissed. "Well, let me give ya a hint! It starts with a p."

The girl's eyes started shining again and a bright smile was present on her face too. "Pancakes!" Xion exclaimed happily. Axel nodded approvingly and patted his daughter's head. "Now, go sit down and wait a bit, kay?" The girl nodded enthusiastically and ran to their small kitchen table and sat down on her chair, which was a bit higher than the other one.

After finishing cooking their breakfast, the two-headed enjoyed their meal in silence, happily chewing on their food. When they finished, Axel dumped the dirty dishes in the sink and then followed his daughter to the bathroom. When he entered the bathroom he saw Xion standing on an old wooden box so that she could reach all the utensils lying next to the sink. While she put the toothpaste on her tooth brush, the man searched for the comb that was most likely stuffed somewhere in the shelves. When Axel finally found it he turned to his daughter, knelt down before her and started combing her hair while she was brushing her teeth.

That had become their daily morning routine long time ago. It had all started with Axel being too lazy to brush his untameable hair every single morning, so Xion made it her duty to brush his hair every day. To show some gratitude towards the child Axel had decided to do the same thing to her, hence their daily morning routine.

When father and daughter were finally finished, Xion ran to the front door in high speed. Axel followed in a much slower pace and was surprised to see his child already ready to go. He laughed and lazily put on his old winter hoodie as well as his worn out sneaker. While he tied his shoelaces the girl started pacing around him impatiently. After tying the last not the man stood up and watched his daughter storm to the front door.

"Ah ah ah! Just a second, sweet cheeks." Axel said in a monitory voice. This made Xion stop dead and turn around to face her father, though not letting go of the doorknob. Axel cramped trough the things on a small shelf that was located over the place where their shoes were and their coats hang. The man walked over to the girl and plopped a helmet on her head, knee and elbow pads stuck under his armpits. She pouted and her puppy eyes spoke for themselves. "You know you have to wear them, so stop squirming. Or do ya wanna be late?"

At that comment Xion stopped protesting and even put some of the pads on herself. Now fully covered with protecting pads and a helmet, the girl tore open the front door and ran outside.

"Hey, hey! Not so fast!" Axel laughed. He grabbed his longboard which rested on the wall and left as well. After locking the door, the man ran after his daughter and caught up to her easily, then they both jogged down their residential building's staircase. Outside the building Axel knelt down and hooped Xion up on his shoulders. He dropped his longboard on the ground and stepped on it to hold it in place.

The man looked down a road where the rising sun was letting its first rays of sunlight grace the town that lay before them. "You ready sweet cheeks?" The adult asked under his breath. Xion laughed and lightly bounced up and down. "Of course I am!" the young child said, the smile obviously present in her voice. "Are you?"

Axel took a deep breath. When his lips formed into a determined grin he replied confidently. "Of course I am."


End file.
